Facts on... Boudica
Boudica (also spelled Boadicea or Boudicca)
Died: 60 or 61 AD
Occupation: Queen of the Iceni
Spouse(s): Prasutagus
Known for: leading a revolt against Roman rule.
Until his death, the Romans had controlled the Iceni through a client king, Prasutagus. When he died with no male heir, he left his wealth and lands to his two daughters and trusted Emperor Nero to protect his family. Instead, the Romans betrayed his trust by annexing his kingdom and humiliating his family.
Boudicca, Prasutagus’ wife, then raised a rebellion throughout East Anglia. She attacked Camulodunum (Colchester), where her troops slaughtered thousands and set fire to the temple of Claudius. She then turned her attention on London, burning the city and killing anyone who could not escape. According to the Roman historian Tacitus, Boudicca’s rebels massacred over 70,000 Romans and pro-Roman Britons and ended the Roman 9th Legion.
The Britons were initially successful, but ultimately the Romans suppressed the rebellion harshly and reduced the Iceni to a small tribal community, with its capital at Venta Icenorum (present-day Caistor St. Edmunds, near Norwich). When the Romans regained the province in the Battle of Watling Street, Boudicca either took poison or died of shock or illness.
Boudicca is considered a national heroine of England,(therefore she has often been used as a model for books and movies.)
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